PCDC releases wrong inmateA local man being held on felony drug charges at the Pope County Detention Center (PCDC) was captured about 24 hours after he assumed the identity of another incarcerated man, was transported to another jail and released by authorities. Jeffrey Hale, 43, was in the PCDC’s booking area on June 30 when a Dardanelle police officer arrived and asked Hale if he was Jeff Johnson and ready to be transported to the Yell County Jail (YCJ), according to...

2 dead in Little Rock apartment shootingAssociated Press LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock police are investigating a shooting at an area apartment complex that left two men dead. Officers were called to the Briarwood Apartments early Saturday morning and found Terrance Slaughter shot in the parking lot. He was taken to an area hospital and pronounced dead. Police say Kevin Brown later arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound and died from his injury. A witness who drove Brown to the ho...

Forgiveness of Charleston church shooter prompts new discussionAssociated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. — Under an outdoor tent a few blocks from Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sharon Simmons paused while cleaning up from the previous night’s revival to ponder the idea of forgiving the white man accused of killing nine of the historic black church’s members, including the pastor. A churchgoer herself, Simmons admits feeling torn between her anger and her Christian inclination to forgive. She also ad...

Problem: Enforcing vicious animal ordinanceThe Pope County Quorum Court's (PCQC) vicious/uncontrolled animals committee met for the second time Tuesday following its June 18 meeting about enforcing proposed amendments to Pope County’s current animal ordinance. County attorney Jeff Phillips was supposed to sit down with the committee and make sure any prospective changes to the ordinance are legal and could be heard by the Quorum Court at its Thursday meeting, but Phillips was unable to...

YCSO closes Hunt investigationDANVILLE — The Yell County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) announced Saturday that it closed its investigation into the whereabouts of a 20-year-old woman who had been missing since the end of May. Investigators said Ali Hunt, 20, who was listed as a missing person, contacted family members Saturday and “advised that she was OK,” according to the department’s Facebook page. Hunt did not indicate where she was, the post said. “[The] Yell County Sheriff...

Two arrested for peddling potTwo men were arrested on separate occasions Monday and Tuesday by the Arkansas State Police (ASP) on Interstate 40 near the eastbound 76 mile marker in possession of a combined 37 pounds of high-grade marijuana and other paraphernalia. Alexander McEntire, 31, was arrested for possession with the purpose to deliver and paraphernalia on Monday. McEntire appeared during bond hearings Wednesday, where District Court Judge Don Bourne set his bond a...

Police: 2 charged after robbery partner accidentally killedBLYTHEVILLE — Two Blytheville teens have been charged with capital murder after police say they accidentally shot one of their partners in an aggravated robbery. According to court documents, 18-year-old Randen Caruthers and 17-year-old Desmond Patton were charged Monday with capital murder, aggravated robbery and engaging in violent criminal group activity. Police say the two suspects and 20-year-old Kennon Daniels robbed Arthur Parnell on Ju...

Union sues feds over hackingWASHINGTON — The federal personnel agency whose records were plundered by hackers linked to China announced on Monday the temporary shutdown of a massive database used to update and store background investigation records after newly discovering a flaw that left the system vulnerable to additional breaches. There is no evidence the vulnerability has been exploited by hackers, agency spokesman Samuel Schumach said in a statement, adding that the...

All robbery suspects in custodyThe three remaining suspects in a local armed robbery investigation had their bonds set at $75,000 each by District Court Judge Don Bourne on Monday at the Pope County Detention Center (PCDC). Christopher Williams, 27, Elizabeth Rogers (previously identified as Elizabeth Reaves), 26, and Isaiah Spencer, 17 — along with Camion Felder, 18, who had his bond set in the same amount — are all currently being detained for their roles in robbing a piz...

Family flees home after getting letters from ‘Watcher’Associated Press ELIZABETH, N.J. — A couple who says they were scared away from their new $1.4 million home because of creepy letters from a stalker has sued the sellers for not telling them about a person with a “mentally disturbed fixation” on the house. Derek and Maria Broaddus said the former owners of the home in Westfield, 25 miles west of New York City, should have warned them of the person who signs the letters as “The Watcher.” The le...

Cosby lawyer: Unsealing court docs ‘terribly embarrassing’Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A lawyer for Bill Cosby argued Friday that it would be “terribly embarrassing” for the comedian if documents from a 2005 sex-assault lawsuit were unsealed. Cosby is fighting efforts by The Associated Press to unseal motions from a lawsuit he settled with a former Temple University employee. The lawsuit accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting the woman at Cosby’s home. The settlement is confidentia...

Charleston holds services for slain church membersAssociated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. — Funerals for three more victims of a deadly shooting during a Bible study in South Carolina were being held Saturday at the church where they were slain. Services were first held for 54-year-old Cynthia Hurd at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, 11 days after a gunman entered the church and killed her and eight other people — all African-Americans. Police contend the attack was rac...

Was he a robber or a flasher? Police say this guy decided to be bothPolice said a Pennsylvania robbery suspect has diversified his criminal portfolio by exposing himself to a shop owner before taking cash and a women’s outfit from a clothing store. Richland Township police Detective Kevin Gaudlip said Tuesday’s heist at the King and Queen Shoppe near Johnstown “was more than just your typical robbery.” Police said the man walked into the store and exposed himself. The befuddled store owner nonetheless helped h...

Convict capturedMALONE, N.Y. (AP) — The escaped murderer who was shot by a state trooper near the Canadian border is in "critical but stable" condition at an Albany hospital, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. Cuomo told CNN that David Sweat's condition initially was listed in stable condition but was downgraded to critical after being flown to Albany Medical Center on Sunday night. Sweat is one of two prisoners who escaped from a maximum-security New Yo...

Irate French taxi drivers smash cars in strike against UberAssociated Press PARIS — French taxi drivers pulled out the throttle in an all-out confrontation with the ultra-cheap Uber car service Thursday, smashing livery cars, setting tires ablaze and blocking traffic during a nationwide strike that caught tourists and celebrities alike in the mayhem. Travelers going to and from the airport were forced to walk alongside highways with their bags, while others, including singer Courtney Love, had their c...

Texarkana authorities search for driver after kittens killedTEXARKANA — Texarkana officials are searching for a truck driver after a bag of kittens was thrown out of a moving vehicle and run over. Animal Care and Adoption Center Director Charles Lokey tells the Texarkana Gazette that five kittens died Wednesday and that one survived. A witness took the surviving kitten to the shelter. Lokey says authorities are reviewing camera footage from a business that might have captured an image of the vehicle. H...

Teenager injured in shooting at Little Rock homeLITTLE ROCK — Police are investigating after a teenager was injured in a shooting in Little Rock. According to Little Rock Police Department Sgt. Bryan Brown, officers responded to a report of a 17- or 18-year-old being shot at a residence in the South End area Wednesday afternoon. Authorities say the victim was shot in the arm, and the bullet exited through the opposite side of his body and hit a dresser inside the home. Brown said the victim...

Robbery suspects considered armed and dangerousThe Russellville Police Department (RPD) is currently looking for Elizabeth Reaves, 26, Isaiah Spencer, 17, and Christopher Williams, 27, in connection with the armed robbery of a pizza deliverer on Monday. They are all considered armed and dangerous. According to the RPD, Reaves is 6’5, 300 pounds with red hair and blue eyes. Spencer is 5’9, 125 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Williams is 5’9, 180 pounds with brown eyes and black hair....

China's ban on ivory to stop poachingJOHANNESBURG (AP) — Conservationists hail it as a possible game-changer in the struggle to curb the slaughter of elephants: an unexpected pledge by a senior Chinese official to stop the ivory trade in a country whose vast, increasingly affluent consumer market drives elephant poaching across Africa. Now they are waiting in suspense for China to outline how and when it would ban an industry that criminal syndicates use as cover for their illici...

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Associated Press writer Courtney Quirin contributed to this report from Johannesburg.Associated Press